Researcher wins grant for tissue ageing study

A university researcher has received a grant of up to US$150,000 to study how bone fractures may accelerate tissue ageing and test potential treatments.

Dr Madison Doolittle, assistant professor in the Center for Regenerative Medicine and Skeletal Development at the UConn School of Dental Medicine, recently received the funding from the American Federation for Aging and Research (AFAR).

AFAR’s Grants for Junior Faculty Program provides up to US$150,000 to junior faculty for one to two years to conduct research that will form the basis for longer-term work on the biology of ageing.

“I am thrilled to receive this award from AFAR,” said Doolittle. “At a time where research funding is in such jeopardy, I am incredibly thankful to AFAR for providing this award so that we can continue to study the complicated nature of biological ageing in the skeleton.”

The funding will allow Doolittle’s lab to study injury as a catalyst for accelerated skeletal tissue ageing. After breaking a bone, lingering symptoms such as pain, stiffness and arthritis can occur, and this can increasingly worsen with age.

Clinical data show that a previous bone fracture, regardless of age, can increase the risk of fracture in old age. Based on these factors, it is believed that previously fractured bones age faster than non-fractured bones, resulting in accelerated bone loss driven by higher proportions of aged “senescent” cells.

Senescent cells are cells that have stopped dividing but remain in the body, releasing substances that can damage surrounding tissue and speed up ageing processes.

This award will allow Doolittle to study this phenomenon in mouse models and test a potential therapeutic approach to correct premature ageing in both bone and systemic tissues.

“What I’m most looking forward to is the effect these findings may have on eventual clinical applications, as fractures in the elderly are one of the most catastrophic events regarding frailty and loss of independence,” said Doolittle. “In future projects, it would be interesting to see if this occurs in other tissues as well, which would implicate injury as a universal driver of premature ageing.”

The goal of the Grants for Junior Faculty Program is to assist in the development of the careers of early-career investigators committed to pursuing careers in ageing research.

“A core grant programme since AFAR’s inception, the AFAR Grant for Junior Faculty provides flexible support at a critical juncture in an early career investigator’s career when research funding is most difficult to secure,” notes Stephanie Lederman, executive director of AFAR. “This grant has helped many promising scientists advance the field’s understanding the basic mechanisms of ageing, building a foundation of knowledge that will help us all live healthier, longer.”